At this moment, Hanzou was likely at the peak of his spirit.
Having just driven away the samurai of the Land of Iron and seized a large quantity of steel supplies and Ninja tools, this sense of achievement from the initial victory filled Hanzou with confidence.
Because the Sand Ninja were bound by the armistice agreement with Konoha, Konoha had forced the Sand Ninja to deploy a large number of Ninja troops along the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain.
This gave Hanzou a feeling of oppression, like thorns on his back or a bone stuck in his throat.
"How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's own bed?"
Although Hanzou didn't know this ancient saying, he felt this sentiment deeply.
"After the war begins, first cripple and kill the Sand Ninja!"
Finding a way to resolve the southern border conflict was Hanzou's best option.
If he were to enter a deep standoff with Konoha first, the high-end combat power of the Land of Rain would easily be pinned down and unable to escape.
Hanzou had always treated the combat power of Konoha with caution.
The result of being entangled with Konoha would inevitably be a sneak attack from behind by the Sand Ninja.
If that happened, he would completely lose the initiative in the war.
In Hanzou's eyes, the Ninja World was just the Ninja World; there was not a shred of tenderness in it.
Every inch of land in the Ninja World was inscribed with the words "the weak are prey to the strong."
In this era of great contention, major Ninja villages frequently engaged in diplomatic warfare; the strong thrive, and the weak perish.
If one were to follow the old system and rely on the position of a neutral small country to survive temporarily, how was that any different from waiting for death?
Many Ninjas of the Land of Rain had wavering emotions, but he, Hanzou, would not!
Those capitulationists and moderates believed that going to war against major powers was like throwing an egg against a rock.
But Hanzou was very clear-headed.
If things dragged on like this, he wouldn't even have the chance to throw an egg against a rock.
The current Land of Rain was already at its most prosperous moment!
If he missed this opportunity, the Land of Rain, trapped in the meager territory of a small country, would only invite its own destruction.
As for this strategic decision, it was naturally "conquer the weak one first, then conquer the strong one."
First destroy the Sand Ninja, then seize the fertile lands of Konoha, and ultimately become the sixth great power of the Ninja World.
This was not only Hanzou's dream, but also the "Ultimate Ninja Way of the Land of Rain" that had been instilled into the country for over a decade, with persistent cultivation of Ninjas day after day.
...
Were the Sand Ninja weak?
From the perspective of the Land of Rain, they seemed very weak.
Just like the war that had just occurred between the Sand Ninja and Konoha.
That group of Sand Ninja had been defeated in a chaotic mess.
The combat troops of the Sand Ninja were the smallest in number among the major Ninja villages.
The vanguard of the Land of Rain also seemed to firmly believe in the weakness of the Sand Ninja.
Even Hanzou had misjudged the true strength of the Sand Ninja.
The Third Kazekage hadn't even made a move yet.
Just one Puppet Master, Chiyo, had caused the Land of Rain's vanguard heavy losses.
Five hundred and fifty Ninjas of the Land of Rain, facing the Puppet Masters led by Chiyo, not only failed to gain any advantage but instead had nearly half of their forces killed by the opponent.
This heavy blow caused Hanzou's blood pressure to spike.
What was most infuriating was the various Salamander poisons that Hanzou had provided to the troops.
These poisons not only failed to cause enough damage to the Sand Ninja, but the Land of Rain's Ninja troops suffered losses of nearly fifteen Jonin due to "Chiyos Poison."
There were no obvious wounds, but because Chiyos Poison was so persistent, a hand injury would lead to an infection of the forearm, and cutting off the forearm would lead to an infection of the entire arm.
Repeated infections, like maggots in the bone.
The terrifying toxin would also make it difficult for the injured Ninja's wounds to heal, causing countless pain and blood infections.
For a time, the terrifying "Puppet Old Hag" became a source of lingering fear in the hearts of the Ninjas of the Land of Rain.
Fortunately, Hanzou was nearby, and he had long since deployed high-end combat power on the side of the Sand Ninja.
Hanzou's formidable combat power caused the battlefield boundary between the two sides to quickly become intertwined.
The first conflict between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain quickly escalated into a large-scale war involving over a thousand people.
The core battlefield of both sides also became deadlocked.
Today, Chiyo used her puppet army to wipe out four of the Land of Rain's forward outposts.
Tomorrow, Hanzou would summon a giant Salamander to kill the flank troops of the Land of Wind.
This back-and-forth allowed the Land of Rain to initially master the methods for detoxifying and treating Chiyos Poison.
The Puppet Master of the Land of Wind, Chiyo, also developed a rapid medicine formula to resist the toxins of the Salamander.
The toxic methods both sides relied on most gradually lost their effectiveness in small-scale battles.
During this stage, Hanzou also exchanged blows with the Puppet MasterChiyo several times.
Although Hanzou was clearly superior to Chiyo in terms of Ninjutsu and personal strength.
But facing the puppet army that didn't fear toxins and the extreme tactic of exchanging puppets for lives, Hanzou felt like his hands and feet were bound.
He always had a feeling of being unable to unleash his full power, a frustration that he couldn't put into words.
That hateful "Puppet Old Hag" Chiyo even gave Hanzou a nickname that made him angry.
"Ventilation Pipe Old Man!"
This nickname nearly made Hanzou, who called himself a demigod, twist his nose in anger.
...
The resilience and toughness of the Sand Ninja far exceeded Hanzou's estimates.
This also gave the Konoha Ninja a very good advantage for an early entry.
While the Sand Ninja and Hanzou were entangled, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade led a large army to quickly break through the border of the Land of Rain.
On the border side of Konoha, the Ninjas of the Land of Rain, due to their weak troop strength, could only rely on complex terrain and harsh weather to repeatedly compete for territory with the Konoha Ninja.
Uchiha Fucheng also took advantage of this period to encourage the participating UchihaNinja to conduct targeted practical drills on the less intense battlefield.
Uchiha Fucheng brought out four major battlefield "artifacts."
He naturally relied on his "foresight" to specially customize Ninja tools.
First: Activated carbon multi-layer filtration, semi-covered gas mask.
This gas mask was an important Ninja tool for fighting in the Land of Rain.
Fucheng knew that the three, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, would most likely be taken down by Hanzou's poison in the end.
This time, Uchiha Fucheng had spent a significant investment targeting Hanzou.
He equipped every UchihaNinja with a gas mask.
Second: Acid fog goggles.
The Ninjas of the Land of Rain learned many special Ninjutsu involving "rain, fog, acid, and haze."
These kinds of Ninjutsu could all cause restrictive effects on the Uchiha's SharinganBloodline Limit.
The acid fog goggles, a simple piece of equipment that could protect the eyes and avoid the harm of acid fog, acid rain, and toxins.
It quickly became a life-saving piece of equipment for every UchihaNinja.
This foresight of Fucheng also made a group of UchihaNinja shout, "The Clan Head is wise!"
And the third battle artifact was a special Ninja tool that used Chakra energy to quickly boil water.
Although this Ninja tool kettle, which converted Chakra into Fire Release to quickly boil water, didn't have much high-tech content.
But for the Uchiha Clan, who generally possessed Fire ReleaseChakra, they were almost falling in love with this inconspicuous little kettle.
Form two seals, hold the kettle handle with both hands. In just fifteen seconds, a pot of boiling water appeared immediately.
In the perpetually damp and dirty Land of Rain, this was simply a top-tier artifact for drinking boiled water.
With the Chakra water-boiling kettle, the rate of diarrhea and illness among UchihaNinja was kept at an extremely low level.
Uchiha Fucheng also made the Uchiha Clan the Ninja family in the Ninja World that loved drinking boiled water the most.
Uchiha, tea first!
If Heaven had not birthed me, "Konoha Pot Fucheng," the Uchiha would be like an eternal night. (Hands on hips, Uchiha laughing. JPG)
Every time Fucheng met UchihaNinja in the camp, they would thump their chests and salute him, shouting "Loyalty" with high morale.
As for the final UchihaNinja [Special Artifact], one must mention the thirteen Misaka Sisters who had already been successfully converted...
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